The United States began a campaign to “warn” to Latin American countries that Russia is trying tomanipulate” through a supposed “disinformation campaign” in Spanish with which the Kremlin seeks justify the invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview with EFE, the head of the State Department’s anti-propaganda office, James Rubinsaid that Joe Biden’s administration is worried for Ukraine’s difficulties in gaining the support of Latin American governments and wants Moscow to stop “trick them”.
“Russia planned a disinformation campaign across the continent to try to manipulate Latin American voters through misinformation and the spread of crazy ideas,” said the coordinator of the State Department’s Center for Global Participation.
From Chile to the rest of the region
According to the Biden administration, The Russian government orchestrates a campaign from Chile to attract local media and opinion makers from all over Latin America to spread their propaganda, hiding the hand of the Kremlin behind it.
A team is in charge of preparing the content in Russia and sends the material to its people in the region so that it can be disseminated in Spanish and Portuguese through local media and that it appears to be independent information.
“We believe that this happens throughout the region, in all countries, as Argentina, Chili, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil”says Rubin.
According to the senior official, the messages that the Kremlin spreads in Latin America are about “justify the unjustifiable”, he explains in reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For example, they accuse kyiv of possessing “biological weapons, among other crazy ideas.”
The coordinator of the anti-propaganda office also denounces that Moscow wants to make it believe that the United States “is to blame” of this war, but “it was Russia’s decision to invade its neighbor,” he insists.
This, despite the fact that the United States insisted on placing missiles and elements of its army in Ukraine; fact that Russia denounced for months.
Concerned about insufficient support for Ukraine
Several governments in Latin America have distanced themselves from the United States and have expressed neutrality before the war in Ukraine.
“We are concerned about the difficulties that the people and government of Ukraine have in achieving full support from Latin America, Africa and other countries in Asia”, confesses Rubin.
The Biden administration believes that the Kremlin has chosen to “manipulate” the media in this region because In Latin America there is freedom of the press and historical support for what was the Soviet Union.
According to Rubin, this is a “problem” that journalists and readers in the region must also face, whom he invites to try to identify “when the Russians are trying to manipulate them.”
“I think the most important thing is that people ask themselves some questions when they read, hear or see something about Russia that surprises them and makes them think that maybe the Russians are not so bad and that everything is the fault of the United States,” he says. the official.
